Dee said:

> Much is interdependent within a beehive with 
> insects and micro-organisms working together.

This appears to be a theme in some recent posts, so 
I'll go further than Keith and ask if there is any sort 
of peer-reviewed work that supports the claim that any
SPECIFIC microorganisms are required for the uses
claimed, such as "bee bread".  Specific species.

Merely finding a microorganism in a beehive or in
"bee bread" is not sufficient, one must consistently
find a unique species or set of species that perform
a specific unique function.

Any decent baker is familiar with "sourdough" breads
and starters, where so-called "wild yeasts" are allowed
to grow in a "starter" mix.  The thing about sourdough
is that, regardless of which yeasts happen to fall
into the starter and grow, the bread is pretty decent
bread.  Any yeast will do, and it would surprise or
disgust many readers to know what sort of yeasts are
found as "significant" in many sourdoughs.

Dekow's repeated claim that "No Hive Is An Island" is
still lacks an acknowledgement of my observation
that "No Hive Lives In A Vacuum".  Specifically,
even if one did the best one could do to "sterilize"
a hive, such as with irradiation, the bees themselves
would soon bring in an adequate mix of random yeasts,
molds and other "microorganisms" to replace any that
might have been killed off by the irradiation or other
treatment (acid, fumes, whatever).

Further, I don't ever recall anyone saying that the
bees needed anything except enzymes to make "bee bread",
and I expect from the many lab studies done to date that 
we could raise perfectly healthy bees on irradiated 
pollen, pure sugar water made from irradiated sugar and 
distilled water, and purified air in a sealed environment.  
It would be a boring life for the bees, but my point would
be that bees can not just survive, but thrive in a "sterile" 
environment, where all microogranisms are deliberately hunted 
down and killed on a regular and consistent basis.

If anyone wants to fund such an experiment, I'd be happy
to help design the gear, and/or run the trials.

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